From antiquity to modernity

The monumental Museum of Egypt is taking shape

The Grand Museum of Egypt’s design team, consisting of international multi disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold, architects Hparc and Arup, has completed the submission of 5000 drawings to form the construction documentation for this major Egyptian artefact conservation project.

With this stage now completed, the client, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture is ready to announce the international tender for the construction of the buildings and the site.

The museum which has been personally sponsored by the President of Egypt, Hosny Mubarak and his wife, will preserve the heritage of its extensive collection for future generations; it will house 50,000 exhibits including the whole of Carter’s Tutankhamen collection, with the total number of exhibits rising to 100,000 in the future. To house the collection the gallery floor area will take up 25,000 sq m out of a total of 100,000 sq m built area.

The chosen site for the Museum is at the junction between dry desert and the fertile floodplain on the outskirts of Cairo nested between the ancient Great Pyramids and the modern city of Cairo. The concept behind the monumental project is to unite the modernity of this thriving modern city with the antiquities of the nearby pyramids. This is echoed in the designs for the museum which integrate engineering with architecture in every component of the building to reflect this great civilisation.

The bulk excavation of the earthworks necessary to create the clear site for the construction is well underway with thousands of truck movements planned over the coming months.